Couple rescues man in wheelchair, stranded and alone in the dark

It was date night for Erin and Bryan Meeks, and the couple took a quiet back road in Comstock Township, Michigan, to get home. As they were driving through rural area, they spotted a man in a wheelchair at the end of a heavily-wooded driveway. 

Bryan says they drove by at just the right time. The man was stuck on his motorized wheelchair. He was alone and it was pitch black out, and his wheelchair had run of power, leaving him completely stranded.

"I caught him out of the corner of my eye and I was like, 'What was that?' I turn around and I'm headed back toward him and as I pull over and he pulls out a lighter and he lights it. He's like, 'I'm right here,'" Bryan told CBS affiliate WWMT. "I thought he was just stuck but [his wheelchair] ran out of battery completely and he was scooting trying to make his way."

The man was Jerry Ward, who is missing part of his leg and relies on his motorized wheelchair to get around. He also has a hearing aid and has difficulty talking, so when he was stuck outside alone, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to get help. "I had no way up, I only have one leg on me," Ward said.

Illuminated by his headlights, Bryan got out of his car and pushed Ward's wheelchair up his driveway for him. He says his day job as a mover helped. "I built up a little bit of muscle tolerance, so it's all right," he said.

Erin took a photo of her husband pushing Ward in the dark, and she shared it on Facebook. "I know I've said it before, but you guys ... my husband is seriously so sweet," Erin wrote. "The man thanked him and said he probably would have been out there all night because his battery died on the chair."

"Not many people have the heart or willingness to help people these days. It's a fact that most of us wouldn't have had the strength to budge that chair," Erin wrote in the now-viral post. "Bryan was placed at that spot, at that time, for a reason. He never passes up a chance to help another."

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• Michigan